Stratigraphic Unit: SU 8829 Context: Fill
Season in which it was excavated: 2014
Location: Building E-b9, Module 1 (local coordinates: 9997.80 E; 10016.95 N) Material: Pottery
Dimensions: 8.8 × 9.9 × 0.8 cm; Diameter (rim) 12.4 cm
Fig. 5.6 TA 9558 (© DAI, Orient-Abteilung, M. Cusin).
لكشلا TA 14285+14286+13651 TA 14285+14286+13651
Michael C. A. Macdonald
116
Three letters incised on a rim and body sherd of a closed vessel. Macrofabric 3. The letters were grooved with a blunt tool (not incised with a sharp one) before the vessel was covered by a slip, and reached the leather-hard state. The context (SU 8829; Square E6) being a fill (of Building E-b9:Room1), the vessel might be of any date earlier than the second century AD, possibly in the second half of the 1st millennium BC (Francelin Tourtet).
Text----ḥ l
n----Commentary
There is a clear difference between the second and third letters. The third is almost certainly a n and the second resembles the final l in CIS ii 336 line 4 and the initial l in l-ḥyy in TM.TAr.002, line 1. The upper vertical is too long for it to be a w.
Fig. 5.8 TA 14248.1 (© DAI, Orient-Abteilung, A. Borlin).
Fig. 5.7 TA 14248.1 (© DAI, Orient-Abteilung, J. Kramer). TA 14285+14286+13651
S.112: Koma am Ende der 1. Zeile fehlt!
لكشلا
S.113: Anfang der 2.Zeile ist unsauber!
لكشلا
S.116: TA fehlt (mein Fehler?!)
لكشلا
S.123-: Die dt. Bilder fangen mit Abb.1 (statt Fig.6.1) an!!, dadurch stimmen die ganze arabische Bildnummerierung nicht mehr überein! bitte überprüfen!
S.144: Anfang der 2. Zeile ist unsauber!
لكشلا
S.150: Ende der 1.Zeile ist abgeschnitten!
لكشلا
S.154: Anfang der 2. Zeile ist unsauber!
لكشلا
S.160: Achtung! Dt. Rheinfolge falsch (fig.6 vor 5)!!
لكشلا
S.112: Koma am Ende der 1. Zeile fehlt!
لكشلا
S.113: Anfang der 2.Zeile ist unsauber!
لكشلا
S.116: TA fehlt (mein Fehler?!)
لكشلا
S.123-: Die dt. Bilder fangen mit Abb.1 (statt Fig.6.1) an!!, dadurch stimmen die ganze arabische Bildnummerierung nicht mehr überein! bitte überprüfen!
S.144: Anfang der 2. Zeile ist unsauber!
لكشلا
S.150: Ende der 1.Zeile ist abgeschnitten!
لكشلا
S.154: Anfang der 2. Zeile ist unsauber!
لكشلا
S.160: Achtung! Dt. Rheinfolge falsch (fig.6 vor 5)!!
لكشلا
117 TA 14285+14286+13651
Square: Area E / E-South/F, baulk between E3 and E6, E 3 Stratigraphic Unit: SU 6558, SU 6554 (TA 13651)
Context: Debris / Collapse
Season in which it was excavated: 2013 / 2014
Location: Above Building E-b9 (local coordinates: TA 14285: 9998.81 E, 10027.74 N; TA 14286:
9998.51 E, 10027.76 N); TA 13651: Southeast of Building E-b1 (local coordinates: 1001.9 E; 10028 N) Material: Sandstone
Dimensions: TA 14285: 16.7 × 34 × 10.4 cm, TA 14286: 16.6 × 44.9 × 11.3cm, TA 13651:
16.7 × 5.9 × 2.2 cm
A grey sandstone block broken into three parts with a four-line Taymāʾ Aramaic inscription in-cised in well-formed letters entirely without ligatures (even in br). There are incised dividing lines between lines 1 and 2 and lines 2 and 3. The fourth line has been squeezed into the narrow space between the letter-bases in line 3 and the lower edge of the face. There are some chips and laminations on the surface and around the break, and a chip has carried away the beginning of line 4. Otherwise, the stone is in good condition and the letters are clear.
Text1. b-10 + 1 b-ʾb šnt ʿšr {w-} šbʿ {l-}mn{k}{w}
2. mlk nbṭw ʾdyn qrb ʾlḥ{d/r}ym br ʿrgw 3. {ʿ}lwʾ dnh l-ṣlm ʾlhʾ [l-]ḥyy np{š}-h w-npš 4. ----{t}{-h} {l-}{ʿ}{l}{m}
Translation
1. On the 11th of ʾb, year {seventeen} {of} {Mnkw}
2. king of Nbṭw: On that day, ʾlḥ{d/r}ym son of ʿrgw presented
3. this {burnt offering} to Ṣlm the god, {for} the life of {himself} and the souls of 4. {his}----{for ever}.
Commentary
The upper part of the l- before mnkw has been destroyed by a chip and the angular base looks more like that of n in this text.6 However, the context requires l, and n would make no sense. The
6 Compare, for instance, the l in ʾlhʾ (line 3) and the n in nbṭw (line 2).
Fig. 5.9 TA 14285+14286+13651 (© DAI, Orient-Abteilung, M. Cusin).
لكشلا 5.1 TA 856 راثلآا دهعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
مسق ،ينامللأا قرشلا
، م . ن َزوك ).
لكشلا 5.2 TA 3335 راثلآا دهعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
مسق ،ينامللأا قرشلا
، .م ن َزوك ).
لكشلا 5.3 TA 4457 هعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
راثلآا د مسق ،ينامللأا قرشلا
، .م ن َزوك ).
لكشلا 5.4 TA 5065
هعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
راثلآا د مسق ،ينامللأا قرشلا
.م ، ن َزوك ).
لكشلا 5.5 TA 6238 راثلآا دهعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
مسق ،ينامللأا قرشلا
، رمارك .ي ).
لكشلا 5.6 TA 9558 راثلآا دهعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
مسق ،ينامللأا قرشلا
، ن َزوك .م ).
لكشلا 5.7 14248.1
راثلآا دهعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
مسق ،ينامللأا قرشلا
، رمارك .ي ).
لكشلا 5.8 14248.1
قرشلا مسق ،ينامللأا راثلآا دهعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
، نيلروب .أ ).
لكشلا 5.9 TA 14285+14286+13651
عمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
راثلآا ده مسق ،ينامللأا قرشلا
م ، . ن َزوك ) .
لكشلا 5.10 TA 17431
.)رمارك .ي ،قرشلا مسق ،ينامللأا راثلآا دهعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
Michael C. A. Macdonald
118
name of the Nabataean king known in Classical sources as Malichus [II] was very often spelled mnkw in Nabataean. He reigned from AD 40–70 and so year 17 of his reign would be AD 56/57.
According to Hoftijzer – Jongeling (1995, 13), ʾdyn is a word found in Imperial Aramaic, Jew-ish Aramaic, and Hatran meaning ‘at this moment, on that day’. It is used to mark the transition from a dating formula to the main narrative of the text. This inscription and possibly TA 17431 would appear to be the first examples of this word in Taymāʾ Aramaic.
The word ʿlwh is found several times in the Elephantine papyri, with the meaning of ‘burnt offering’ (Hoftijzer – Jongeling 1995, 851), but this would seem to be the first time it has appeared in an Arabian context. It is the equivalent of Hebrew ʿōlâ/ʿôlâ (possibly a shortening of minḥâ ʿōlâ
‘tribute rising [in the fire]’, i.e. ‘a burnt offering’, Koehler – Baumgartner 1994–2000, 830–831).
This is by far the latest reference in Taymāʾ to Ṣlm, its chief deity. His worship is previously attested in Taymanitic inscriptions from the mid-sixth century BC, and Imperial Aramaic texts in Taymāʾ. So it is extremely interesting to find evidence that his worship continued into the mid-first century AD. Note that the theophoric name ʿbd-ṣlm occurs in the Nabataean inscriptions ThMNN 701 (= UJadhNab 145), UJadhNab 383.2,7 and HNNUT 7.
There are however two other late references to Ṣlm. One is in a Safaitic inscription by an in-habitant of Dūmah who calls him Ṣlmʾlh dmt “Ṣlm the god of Dūmah” (KRS 30). The other is in a Latin inscription of the third century AD from Dūmah which is dedicated to Jupiter Hammon and Sancto Sulmo.8
The end of the text, part of which is lost in the chip at the beginning of line 4, probably read 3...
l-ḥyy npš-h w-npš 4 [ʾḥr]t-h l-ʿlm. In line 4, part of the final t of [ʾḥr]t can still be seen, as can the enclitic pronoun -h. It is interesting that while generally in Nabataean ʾḥr is the normal word for
‘descendants, posterity’,9 and even at Taymāʾ this is the word used in Nabataean inscriptions,10 in three out of the four Taymāʾ Aramaic inscriptions in which the phrase occurs,11 the word used is ʾḥrt (cf. Dadanitic ʾḫrt).12
Neither ʾlḥdym or ʾlḥrym is known, though ḥrym has been found once in JSNab 169 at Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ. The name ʿrgw has been found once before in UJadhNab 505.
TA 17431
Square: Area E/E3
Stratigraphic Unit: SU 6559 Context: Collapse
Season in which it was excavated: 2015
Location: Building E-b1 (local coordinates: 10001.08 E, 10025.93 N) Material: Sandstone
Dimensions: 62.0 × 22.0 × 12.3 cm
A four-line monumental inscription in Taymāʾ Aramaic on a well-cut ashlar. Although the space to the right of each line shows that nothing has been lost on that side, the left side of the stone is
7 See Nehmé 2018, 147, 174.
8 For KRS 30 see OCIANA, and for the Latin inscription see Bauzou 1996, 24 and Norris 2018, 73, n. 3.
9 See for instance Healey 1993, 254, s.v. ʾḥr, and here TA 3424+4259 B/3, as well as U.N.001/4 in Macdonald – Al-Najem 2021.
10 As in TA 3424+4259, B/3, see below, U.N.001/4 (in Macdonald – Al-Najem 2021), and CIS ii 337.
11 Thus, in the present inscription, TM.TAr.002/3, and TM.TAr.003/3 (in Macdonald – Al-Najem 2021) it is ʾḥrt, but in TA 17431/3 it is ʾḥr.
12 See for instance, AH 203, 206, U 057, 058, and passim. Note however that in one case, U 036 (= AH 029) the word ʾḫr is used.
119
missing with the loss of an unknown, but apparently quite considerable, amount of text. A chip at the left end of what remains of the stone has caused more damage. Thus, the text does not flow smoothly from one line to the next. The proposed restorations (in [ ]) in the translations are purely suggestions to try to make sense of what is left of the text.
Text1. b-2 b-nysn šnt 2 l-šhrw mlk lḥyn ʾd{y}[n]----2. =mw w-tbʿ-hn w-bny ʿṣ{d/r}w rbʿtʾ dʾ ----3. ʾḥr-hn l-ʿlm w-ʾbqy l-byt {ḥ}m{w} h----4. t{l}t w-lʾ yzbnn w-lʾ yrhnn w-lʾ yh----Translation
1. On the 2nd of Nīsān in year 2 of Šhrw king of Liḥyān. {On that day} [offered to the deity X and Y sons of Ḥ-]
2. mw and their followers and the sons of ʿṣ{d/r}w this feasting couch [for themselves 3. and]their descendants for ever and may he [the deity] show mercy to the house of {Ḥmw} ----4. {three} and they may not sell nor give as a pledge nor
----Commentary
What survives of the text is well carved with no ligatures, but it uses a number of different forms for the same letters. Thus, for instance, compare the forms of y in nysn and lḥyn (line 1), ʾbqy and byt (line 3), and yzbnn (line 4); or initial l in lḥyn (line 1) with those in l-ʿlm (line 3) and the three examples of lʾ (line 4); medial l in mlk (line 1) and ʿlm (line 3) with that in tlt (line 4); final n in nysn and lḥyn (line 1) with ʾḥr-hn (line 3), yzbnn and yrhnn (line 4); etc.
Line 1: No explicit reference to a king of Liḥyān called S²hr has been found in the Dadanitic inscriptions. JSLih 349 is dated to “the days of Gs²m bn S²hr” and AH 013 is dated “to year 5 of S²hr bn Hnʾs¹” but in neither is he called a “king”. By contrast, at Taymāʾ we have four references in Aramaic to a “Šhrw king of Liḥyān” who is mentioned not only in the present inscription but also in TA 8827+8828 (see Section 2) which records an offering by a ʿlym šhrw mlk lḥyn a “serv-ant of Šhrw king of Liḥyān”. In addition, there is a graffito in another local development of the Imperial Aramaic script which reads šhrw mlk lḥyn šlm at the site of Sarmadā, south-west of Tay-māʾ (Al-Theeb 2014, 34–35, naqš nabaṭī 1 [= Al-Ḥaʾīṭī 2012, no. 22]). Finally, see the new read-ing of Riyāḍ Museum 1020 A in Taymāʾ III Part 2. It is impossible to tell at this stage whether all three texts refer to the same king, or whether there was more than one “S²/Šhrw king of Liḥyān”.
Fig. 5.10 TA 17431 (© DAI, Orient-Abteilung, J. Kramer).
لكشلا 5.1 TA 856 راثلآا دهعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
مسق ،ينامللأا قرشلا
، م . ن َزوك ).
لكشلا 5.2 TA 3335 راثلآا دهعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
مسق ،ينامللأا قرشلا
، .م ن َزوك ).
لكشلا 5.3 TA 4457 هعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
راثلآا د مسق ،ينامللأا قرشلا
، .م ن َزوك ).
لكشلا 5.4 TA 5065
هعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
راثلآا د مسق ،ينامللأا قرشلا
.م ، ن َزوك ).
لكشلا 5.5 TA 6238 راثلآا دهعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
مسق ،ينامللأا قرشلا
، رمارك .ي ).
لكشلا 5.6 TA 9558 راثلآا دهعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
مسق ،ينامللأا قرشلا
، ن َزوك .م ).
لكشلا 5.7 14248.1
راثلآا دهعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
مسق ،ينامللأا قرشلا
، رمارك .ي ).
لكشلا 5.8 14248.1
قرشلا مسق ،ينامللأا راثلآا دهعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
، نيلروب .أ ).
لكشلا 5.9 TA 14285+14286+13651
عمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
راثلآا ده مسق ،ينامللأا قرشلا
م ، . ن َزوك ) .
لكشلا 5.10 TA 17431
.)رمارك .ي ،قرشلا مسق ،ينامللأا راثلآا دهعمل ةظوفحم رشنلا قوقح(
Michael C. A. Macdonald
120
Line 2: The first two letters appear to be the end of a word begun in the lost part of the previous